^ 




n 



4H + REMINISCENCED 



A 



REMINISCENCE, 



A. F 



And is It that the haze of "inef 

Makes former gladness loom so great 
Tiio lovvness of the present state, 

That sets the past in this relief ? 

Or that the past will always win 
A glory from its being far: 
And orb into the perfect star 

We saw not, when we moved therein 'f 
— TtnnyHoii. 



Carthage, Mo. 

E. SKEWtb & Co.. PRlNTtKa AND BINDERS. 
1883. 






205449 
'13 



A 



PREP-HCE. 



If a perusal of the following pages, 
which have been written, it is almost 
needless to state, without any pretentions 
to literary merit, serve to recall to the 
inemoiy of a few Englishmen, who lived 
tosrether for a short time in the south- 
western Dart of Missouri, one or two 
pleasant episodes in a life which had few 
charms for them, except those of novelty 
and freedom, the idle moments frittered 
awav over the compilation of this remi- 
niscence will never be regretted and will 
be more than compensated for by the 
grateful feelings of their friend and 
associate. 

The AuTiioK. 



A REMINISCENCE. 



PART I. 

Althougli we had been looking forward 
to leaving for Xew Mexico for the last 
three weeks, the orders we received on the 
18th of January, 1883, that we were to 
be ready to make a start on the following 
morning at 9:20, seemed to throw us all 
into confusion, and it was only with the 
greatest of exertion on the part of Will, 
who was suffering from a severe attack of 
neuralgia, that he was enabled to accom- 
plish the necessary preparations for a 
long journey to a new, and, by him, an 
untried country. 

The evening before we left Peirce City 
we were visited by our friend, Mr, Hill, 



8 A REMINISCENCE. 

who came to join us in a final smoke and 
to say "good-bye" to "the boys," whom, 
in all probability, he will not see again 
for many years; and happy were the remi- 
niscences recalled of b^^-gone days spent 
at Fnlmur. 

No matter how auspicious the occa- 
sion or how jovial the party assembled, 
there is always something inexpressibly 
sad, when men uieet together to take 
leave of each other, and, as if the object 
of such a gathering were not gloomy 
enough of itself, there always seems to be 
some dismal individnal present who will 
try to forecast the future and speculate as 
to whether it will ever fall to their lot to 
be thrown together on earth again; and, 
though, out of the hundreds of men we 
meet and know, there are oidy a few whom 
we can call "congenial spirits;" oidy a few 
with whom we can* laugh over and over' 
again at the same old joke that seems to 



A KEMIXI^^('EN^E. 9 

increase its mirth-provoking power the 
oftener it is repeated; only a few with 
whom we can sit in the same room for 
hours without saving a word and yet feel 
perfectly at ease, and only a few with 
whom we have that mutual magnetic 
sympathy, when a single glance flashed 
from one to the other seems to give utter- 
ance to what is passing in the uiind of 
each, and "thought leaps out to wed with 
thought, 'ere thought can wed itself with 
speech," yet there are many "farewell 
gatherings," which, in spite of the absence 
of these chosen few, derive all their sad- 
uess from the fact that the same par- 
ty in its entirety, in all human proba- 
bility, can never be collected together 
again: for though at school, at the Uni- 
versity, and even at ranches in the far 
West, men meet and talk and live togeth- 
er, and when the separation couies, the 
partings are "such as press the life from 



10 A REMIXISCEXCE. 

out young hearts," it is very, very seldom 
that they are ever brought face to face 
again. 

In spite of the knowledge that we, who 
had been living together so harmoniously 
were destined shortly to be separated, we 
had never seemed to realize that our party 
would be broken up so soon and so 
suddenly, and we could not but feel de- 
pressed at the thought of it, despite the 
hopeful way in which we talked of a speedy 
reunion, if not on this Continent, at least 
on the other side of the Atlantic. Charlie, 
whom we were to leave behind, came to 
mv room, before going to bed, for in- 
structions during our absence, and it was 
not long before Jack came ambling in, 
with his thumbs in his waistcoat pockets, 
and puffing great volumes of smoke from 
his mouth, settled himself comfortably in 
an easy chair and began to recall many 
pleasant and amusing incidents that had 



A REMINISCENCE. 11 

happened during the time he had been 
staying with us. But before we said 
"good-night" I could not help thinking 
that it was "the lowness of the present 
state that set the past in this relief." 

The next morning (the 19th) was the 
coldest I ever remember. A blizzard 
had struck Peirce City during the time 
that we were in the arms of Morpheus, 
and when we rose the wind seemed to cut 
right through our wooden house and 
freeze us to the very marrow. 

Of course all was bustle and confusion; 
Will was immensely excited and running 
here and there and forgetting and sud- 
denly remembering, then after all, leaving 
behind things that he meant to take with 
him, and in spite of his reiterated as- 
surance that everything had been sent 
to the station, the transfer waggon had to 
make a second expedition to the house to 



12 A REMINISCENCE. 

take down a portmanteau that had been 
overlooked. 

After a hurried breakfast we walked 
down to the depot and were met there by 
Captain Purdy, Avho, during the time we 
have lived out here, has been to us a kind 
and valued friend, for whose many acts of 
hospitality, sound advice and ever-ready 
assistance in our many trials and difficul- 
ties, we cherish the warmest feelings of 
gratitude. 

He, and Mr. Stayner, who came from 
Toronto on the St. Louis train, and Mr. 
Bennett together with Jack, Will, Andrew 
and myself formed our party, ^fr. Hilt 
and Charlie were at the station to see us 
ott', and many others who were hardy 
enoUi>-h to fear no ill effects from exposing 
themselves to the cold, piercing, north 
wind. 

A\'ill was, as usual, full of hope and 
excitement, and though he has gone 



A REMINISCENCE. 13 

through enough in this country to damp 
the spirits of any ordinary individual, he 
still maintains his cheery disposition, his 
good temper unimpaired by many bitter 
disappointments, he derives unlimited 
consolation from the reflection that 
*'things are not half so bad as they will 
be," and is as ready as ever to admit that 
"every cloud has a silver lining." 

How much better it would be for us if 
in all our undertakings we had the pluck 
and determination to overcome every 
difficulty, and such resolution as to make 
ourselves believe that we must eventually 
succeed, that there really is no such thing 
as failure, and that our life cannot end as 
so many others have done in vain regrets 
and a melancholy moan, "it might have 
been!" 

The sleeping car is switched, the bag- 
gage checked, and as the conductor sliouts 
out "all aboard" we jump on to the plat- 



14 A REMINISCENCE. 

form of the car and wave "farewell" to 
our friends as the train stsams out of the 
station. We pass rapidly by the little 
wooden shanties on our right and left and 
after leaving the freight depot we curve 
round the foot of the hill to the west of 
the town, which is soon lost to view as we 
take our seats in the car; the ice is so 
thick on the windows that we cannot see 
what sort of country it is through which 
we are passing, but we know it is only the 
monotonous undulating prairie lands of 
western Missouri and Kansas, with here 
and there a break of a gully or a few 
storm-beaten trees, but there is nothing 
either to excite the admiration or gratify 
the eyes of a traveller, so we pass the 
time in chatting, smoking and reading. 
We stop at long interval at road-side 
stations without either increasing or di- 
minishing the number of our fellow pas- 
sengers to any appreciable extent, but at 



I 



A REMINISCENCE. 15 

Columbus one man enters the car bring- 
ing with him a cold waft of frozen air and 
standing with his back to the stove gives 
vent to the remark for the benefit of 
general information, that "it's a kinder 
chillv," the thermometer beino- 10^ below 
zero, and he "guesses there is another 
blizzard coming." 

Though, undoubtedly, there are many 
advantages in the American system of 
railway travelling, I cannot bring iiv/self to 
prefer it to the English mode altogether, 
•Apart from that predilection for exclusive- 
ness, which is characteristic of English 
feeling, and a desire for privacy, which in 
so many cases influence our minds, there 
is something very repulsive in the idea 
of a lady being obliged, perhaps, to sit 
next to a man who is not over cleanly in 
his habits or his person, nor particularly 
choice in the selection of his language, and 
it is wretched to think of a car full of 



16 A REMINISCENCE. 

people having to luulergo the agonies of 
listening to ten or a dozen children 
screaming and crying. I do not refer to 
trains on the eastern roads, or to lines on 
which Piilman cars or cars with reclining 
chairs are provided at a small extra 
charge, but on many of the trains in the 
West it is impossible to escape the dis- 
comforts, as they have only just sufficient 
accommodation for the number of passen- 
gers. The conductor seems to hold a 
position which is not analogous to any 
held by the officials on English trains. He 
is more like the captain of a ship, and 
should his scrutinizing eye detect any 
wretched wight travelling without being 
provided with the necessary ticket or 
without the means of paying his way to 
his destination, he has the train stopped, 
and the offender is set down, no matter 
how far he may be from a station. Most 
of the officials are courteous and con- 



A REMINISCENCK. 17 

siclerate in looking after the comfort of 
passengers, and I must say that "our" 
conductor exercised his prerogative in a 
manner most gratifying to those who 
were under his charge for the time being. 

We arrived at Oswego about 1 o'clock, 
where a stoppage of twenty minutes was 
made and where a 'bus with seats all 
frozen was in readiness to drive us to an 
eating house for dinner; the meal was 
meagre in the extreme, but an injunction 
from Andrew (who made the very best 
use of the twenty minutes at his disposal) 
to be thankful for small mercies, and to 
"eat hearty" as it was uncertain when we 
should get another meal, had the desired 
effect of producing a feeling of satisfaction 
when we paid up the fifty cents as com- 
pensation for the repast we had enjoyed (?). 

We had a long, dreary, monotonous 
"ride" to Halstead, which was reached 
soon after 8 o'clock in the evening, and as 



18 A EEMINISCEXCE. 

soon as the train stopped our ears were 
gladdened by the sound of a voice in a 
familiar brogue shouting out: 

"Jest put your things doon, and I'll 
take 'em up to the hoose mysel." 
, "Hello!" said Will, "I'll bet you he's 
from Glasgow. Say, ain't you from 
Glasgow?" 

"No sir, I come from Edinburgh; 
have you been there?" 

"I guess so," said Will. 

Then these two Scotchmen engaged in 
ananimated conversation as we walked 
from the depot to the 'Frisco House, and 
after they had exchanged confidences, 
we learned that this porter of the 
hotel was but another instance (of which, 
alas, we know so many) of the effect 
of giving a too ready credence to 
what we hear and read. Plow many of 
the younger sons of our English fam- 
ilies, who have been sent out here to 



A REMINISCENCE. 19 

make a name and fortune for them- 
selves, have become victims of the wily 
intrigues and rascally designs of unscru- 
pulous land agents; being led on by 
fictitious promises of golden harvests and 
future prosperity they have become a 
prey to the temptation to embark in en- 
terprises for which they had no qualifica- 
tions; then, when they have spent all their 
money they have begun to find out that 
they have been deceived, and after en- 
during privation and want and under- 
going the greatest hardships, they have 
had to resort to the most menial occupa- 
tions in order to obtain their daily bread. 
We were agreeably surprised at the 
accommodation afforded us at the hotel at 
Halstead. A genial landlord and a good 
"square meul" had mors influence in 
restoring us to an amiable frame of mind 
after a cold and uncomfortable journey, 
than any amount of the Budweiser which 



20 A REMINISCENCE, 

Andrew had taken care to provide himself 
with, while i)assing through the prohibi- 
tion State of Kansas. The number of 
rooms in a hotel in a small place of 300 
inhabitants, is, of course, limited, and as 
the proprietor was unable to furnish us 
with separate apartments, we had, as Mr. 
Bennett said, "to double up;" Jack and 
Will, Andrew and I occupying one room. 
It was intensely cold so we "turned in" 
with most of our clothes on, and after we 
had exhausted all our powers of conversa- 
tion and the laughter which the novelty 
of the situation provoked had subsided 
one after the other succumbed to nature's 
cravings and by an early hour in the 
morning "the whole of the party was fast 
asleep." When we woke the thermome- 
ter was 12"^ below zero, and finding 
^perhaps not very much to our annoyance) 
that no provision had been made for per- 
forming our ablutions, (as any water put 



A REMINISCENCE. 21 

into the pitcher would have frozen solid 
in a very few hours) we registered a vow 
to indulge in a "real good wash" when 
the weather moderated and rushed, shiv* 
ering, down to breakfast at 7 o'clock. 

The train by which we w^ere to resume 
our journey was wired two hours late from 
Kansas City, so we waited in the office of 
the hotel until, hearing the distant whistle, 
we ran across to the depot, and by the 
time we were comfortably settled in the 
"sleeper" we were again on our way to. 
New Mexico. 

The accommodation in the Pullman cars- 
is most luxurious, though I think it cannot, 
be fidly appreciated by travellers on 
English railways, as the distances to be 
traversed are so short, and there is really 
very little occasion for the use of them: 
but in this country, where one is on the 
train often for four or live days consecu- 
tively, it is easy to realize what a comfort 



22 A REMINISCENCE. 

it is to be able to walk about, sit at a table 
and read or write, wash one's hands, 
sleep and smoke just when one feels in- 
clined. The railroad over which we were 
to travel, belonging to the Atchison, 
Topeka and Sante Fe Company is most 
solidly built and being the property of a 
wealthy corporation there has been no 
lack of funds to make it attractive in 
every way for its patrons. The eating 
houses along the road are excellent and 
though the line has only been in existence 
two years, it is^dready held in very high 
estimation as a means of transit between 
the East and the West. 

Our way now lay through a bleak, bare- 
looking country, where the ranch-men 
have to resort to a system of irrigation in 
order to make their crops grow, as the 
rain-fall during the year is so slight; but 
their chief employment is the raising of 
cattle, which in consequence of the im-. 



A REMINISCENCE. 23 

munity they enjoy (as a rule) from severe 
cold weather, is to them the inore profita- 
ble branch of agricultural labour. 

The monotony of our journey was 
relieved at Kinsley vt'here we stopped for 
dinner and after indulging in a most sub- 
stantial meal we again boarded our car 
and passed the time in smoking and 
playing cards, till gradually day merged 
into night and the moon glittering in the 
frosty sky, rose in "unclouded grandeur," 
with her sad wan light, on this wild 
desert country, sparsely covered with 
snow, and revealed to us "heaven's ebon 
vault studded with stars unutterably 
bright." Looking across this broad ex^ 
pause of prairie land and "viewing the 
dismal situation waste and wild," one wa.<* 
forcibly reminded of the calm, rippling, 
boundless sea, and the white snow looked 
more like the foam of the waves as they 
break on some shallow bed; not a tree or 



,24 A KEMIXISCKXCE. 

a rise in tlie ground to obstruct the distixnt 
view or dim the cletir horizon where sky 
and prairie meet. 

We had supper at Coolidge about 10:30 
p. M., and after smokinii: one ciQ:ar we 
said "good-night" and retired to our sev- 
eral berths. 

On the morning of the 21st (Sunday) 
how different was the scene that met our 
view! Being rudely roused from our 
slumbers by a great black face, with "eyes 
that sparkling, blazed," protruding- 
through the curtains of our berths, and a 
shrill voice shouting out "wake-up, 
wake-up," we found that during the time 
we had been sleeping we had passed La 
Junta and Trinidad, and when we woke, 
the sun was tipping with "roseate streaks". 
the snow-robeil crags of the Rocky ]Moun- 
tains, and our train, with two ])o\verful 
engines attached, was struggling up a 
o'rade of 184 feet to the mile; before we 



A KKMIXISCENCE. 2o 

stopped for breaktast ut Raton we had 
emerged from the tunnel which crosses 
the state line between Colorado and New 
jNIexico. 

After passing through the narrow canon 
verging on the coutines of these two terri- 
tories, the hills which seemed to close in 
on us and surround us, gradually widened 
out and there stretched before us a plateau 
of 200 miles, edged on either side with 
rugged peaks. As we look out right and 
left we pass by innumerable herds of 
sheep and cattle feeding, and here and 
there a solitary horseman comes in view 
and disappears like a tigure on a camera 
obscura, then we see the timid antelope 
rush in wild confusion from the terrifying 
noise of the advancing train, and a huge 
Jack rabbit darts from the track and 
bounds along in his headlong course in- 
stilling fear into the breasts of the tiny 
gophers, of which we just catch a glimpse 



26 A KEMINISCENX'E. 

as they dodge into their holes for safety. 

Only the noise of a passing train, then 
all is silent as death again. The utter 
loneliness of the place seems to pall on 
one, for the scattered indications of human 
life, that we pass, in the shape of squalid 
huts with wreathing smoke arising from 
their flat roofs, theabodesof those solitary 
settlers who have taken Horace Greely's 
advice "to go west and grow up with the 
country," are separated from each other 
by long, long intervals of dreary unculti- 
vated prairie land; not a sound to mar the 
dreadful stillness of the air, save the 
quivering of insect wings amongst the 
grass and the occasional howl of a hungry 
wolf, squatted on the top of some neigh- 
bouring bluit'. 

The atmostphere has become so raritied 
at the height we have attained above the 
level of the sea, that the distant hills 
whose sides are thicklv covered with 



A REMINISCENCE. 27 

pignon bushes, through which the wind is 
blowing with a crisp metallic sound, seem 
but the distance of a stone's throw from 
us, whereas in reality they are miles and 
miles away, and everything appears clear 
and distinct but diminutive as if we were 
looking through the wTong end of a field 
glass. Shortly after leaving Las Vegas 
we see on our lelft Starvation Peak, a bold 
promintory of rock, on the summit of 
which a party of seventy white men who 
were out on a hunting expedition, were 
kept prisoners by Indians, who surrounded 
the foot of the hill, till they died of hunger; 
then farther on we catch glimpses through 
the trees on our right of the ruins of an 
old Mexican Cathedral, and while we look 
the top-most peaks of the lofty mountains 
are growing purple against the rose-tinted 
sky, and down below, the vale is full of 
light, bathed in the radiance, of departing 
day. At \^^allace some of the Fueblo 



28 A KE.MINISCKNCE. 

Iiuliaiis come down to the depot and tiy 
to sell the turquoise stone, which they 
find in the locality, to passengers onboard 
the train, but they ask such exorbitant 
prices for the worthless specimens that 
only Andrew indulged his fancy for buy- 
ing something from a ''real live Indian." 
The Pueblos are a small, insignificant 
looking type of humanity, with low, square 
foreheads, black, waving hair, bronze 
complexions, high cheek bones and full 
lips, dirty in the extreme, and treacherous 
as all the Indians are. Wallace itself 
bears a very unenviable reputation as a 
rendezvous for "desperadoes," '"dead- 
beats" and "rustlers," and it is seldom that 
a day passes without some daring robbery 
or worse crime being committed in broad 
day-light within a few yards of the depot. 
So prevalent have these offences become 
that it is a common thing now for the 
conductors of the emigrant trains to warn 



A REMINISCENCE. 29 

passengers not to go outside the station 
when the train stops at Wallace for dinner 
or supper. Such a state of things should 
be rectiHed by the greatest deternunation 
on the part of the vigilance committee to 
let no culprit escape unpunished, and they 
should deem no measures too harsh or 
cruel that would rid the neighbourhood of 
such a dastardly, mean set of scoundrels. 

A few more hours' travelling along the 
valley of the Rio Grrande and v»'e arrive 
at Socorro where we are deafened by the 
Babel of sounds emanating from the 
throats of swarthy niggers, who are shout- 
ing out the different hotels in the town 
that they represent. 

''Free 'bus up to the Grand Central, the 
best hotel in Socorro!" 

"This way for the Windsor, the only 
first-class house in the city!" 

These and such like recommendations 



30 A REM INISCE^CCE. 



Were yelled out by the niggers as soon as 
the train stopped, as a bait to entice the 
general public, one or two of them a little 
more obsequious than the rest would per- 
haps make a personal application for our 
patronage. ' 

This custom of employing what are 
called ''runners," is almost universally 
•adopted by hotel keepers in America, who 
pay them a commission on every guest 
they are instrumental in sending to the 
house they represent. 

We took the "free 'bus" and in a very 
few minutes were safely landed at the 
."Grand Central Hotel." 

It was 12 o'clock on Sunday night when 
we reached our destination and we were 
glad enough to find ourselves comfortably 
housed, after the number of hours we had 
spent on the cars. 



PART II. 



After breakfast the next morning (the 
22d) we chartered a "double-buggy" and 
team, and piloted by Captain Purdy, who 
was on horse-back, we made a start for the 
mines in the Socorro mountains. On our 
way there we passed through the principal 
streets of the town, across the plaza and 
up "dead-men's" alley where those who 
have committed crimes deemed punisha- 
h\e with death, suffer the dread penalty at 
the hands of the vigilance committee. 
Though the method adopted by this self- 
constituted authority seems in many cases 
somewhat arbitrary and indeed repugnant 
to the feelings of individuals who have 
been accustomed to dwell amongst a law- 
abiding community, it is the most effectual 



32 A REMINISCENCE. 

way of dealing with those ruffians who 
will not recognize the obligations they are 
under, to observe the common law, which 
is binding between men, when they are 
under no form of municipal government. 
The wind was very cold that morning, 
but the sun was shining bright out of a 
cloudless sky, and the change to this 
bracing, exhilerating air after the relaxing 
climate of Missouri had a most beneficial 
effect on all of us; we were all in good 
spirits and felt as if no amount of exercise 
would produce any symptoms of fatigue. 
As we drove along the road we noticed 
on every side how different were the va- 
rieties of vegetation to what we had seen 
anywhere else: all kinds vf orchids and 
cacti seemed to grow in rich profusion, 
eliciting from Andrew the remark that 
'•the plants which we nurture with such 
care in our English conservatories, 
actually have 'the cheek' to grow wild 



A REMINISCENCE. 33 

here," which little speech had a fatal effect 
on the propensity Will always exhibited 
for indulging in a lengthy discourse inter- 
larded with a few wholesome reflections, 
when he was favoured with the presence 
of a sympathetic audience and he thought 
he could "point a moral or adorn a tale." 

"Ay, ay," said Will, in the mock-sermon- 
izing sort of way, wdiich he often affected, 
putting the -tips of his fingers together, 
and closing his eyes, "ay, ay; here we 
may regard them as Nature's /r^^ gifts to 
us, and I look upon all these new things 
that we see as good omens for a fresh start 
in life. We are leavins- the old thino-s 
behind. This is indeed a grand country 
and I mean to make 'my pile' here." 

"You really are the most sanguine man 
I ever met," I said to him. 

"Well, I don't know; 1 feel down in my 
luck sometimes; but 'hope springs eternal 
in the human breast.' " 



34 A REMINISCENCE. 

"xlnd you forget that 'man never is but 
always lo be blest.' " 

"That may be true, but we won't take 
Pope as an authority on everything: I like 
to draw my own conclusions from what I 
see around me. 'Everything comes to 
those who can only wait,' is not that a 
quotation from somebody?" 
, "You must have a devil of a lot of pa- 
tience if you are going to wait till things 
come to you; I don't believe in waiting 
for things, I believe in getting them." 

"Look at those flowers, you were talk- 
ing about just now," went on Will, hardly 
noticing my interruption; "all through the 
winter they seem to us to be withered and 
dead, but they are only -wjiting for the 
genial warmth and bright suns of Spring- 
to burst out again into fresh, life, and 
'expand their light and soul-like wings,' 
to me, they are emblems of a happy 
future." 



i 



A REMINISCEXCE. 35 

"x\nd to me, they are 'buds that open 
only to decay;' but you would make a first- 
rate preacher, Will, I am sure you have 
mistaken your vocation. You are a 
greut humbug too, and I think that is one 
of the requisite qualifications !" 

"I don't want to joke; and I am begin- 
ning to feel awfully 'blue' at the thoughts 
of your going away,'' he replied, relapsing 
into a sombre mood, "we have always 'hit 
it off' so well together. Do you remember 

old H used to say 'we don't have 

much money but we have a of a 

time? And will you ever forget that 
night at the 'Southern,' in St. Louis, when 
the waiter at dinner imparted to us the 
astounding information that he was an 
Englishman, by asking us if we would 
lii\e to have something done, the ^saine us 
we ''ave at 'or.ie, sir?' and the roars of 
laughter we went into, when we saw H-- — 
on skates at the natatorium? Well, it is 



36 A EEMIXISCENCE. 

sad to think that those days are beyond 
recalling! When you fellows are gone I 
shall be like the 'last rose of summer, left 
blooming alone.' " 

"I suppose you mean that you'll be 
'cenLless,' and Jack says you'll be 'dead' in 
less than six months! " 

"Ah ! but he means 'dead -broke,' and 
they say that no Englishman gets on in 
this country, til! he has been 'dead -broke ' " 

"It is a pity, then, that more don't land 
here in that condition." 

"If you want to see some you have only 
to take a trip to the north-western part of 
loiva, and you'll find a pretty c/(?s<?-fisted 
fraternity up there, among ' whom are 
many who have landed in that condition! 
'(Punch' calls them the 'I owe a' lot colony ! 
But here we are, at the superintendent's 
house," and just as Will finished speaking 
Mr. Vernon, the superintendent of the 
"Reserve'' mine met us, and while the 



A REMINISCENCE. 37 

team was being "unhitched" we went into 
his house to deposit our cloaks and rugs 
preparatory to making an ascent up the 
Socorros. These mountains whose surface 
concealed such untold wealth, looked as if 
they had been torn from the "shattered 
side of thundering ^tna"and stood out in 
bold relief against the clear blue sky, 
rising in volcanic masses 1,500 feet out of 
a plain 4,000 feet above the level of the 
sea. After resting a while and w^arming 
our feet, we walked over the claims occu- 
pied by the "Merritt" and "Reserve'' 
mines. Only a little work has been done 
on the former, but there is every indica- 
tion of its being developed into a very 
valuable piece of property, and lying, as 
it does, parallel with the "Torrence" and 
"Reserve," it will in all probability par- 
ticipate in the mineral wealth, which 
beyond a doubt is contained in the two 
latter. 



38 A EEMINISCENCE. 

Of these mines on the Socorros the 
"Torrence" is the only one at present that 
has been opened up sufficiently to exhibit 
the wonderfully rich deposits of silver ore 
that lie embedded in the loose, gravelly 
formations between the surface and the 
subjacent rocks, and though neither 
this mine nor the two adjacent claims 
can boast of the possession of a "true fis- 
sure vein," the amount of mineral display- 
ed, is enough to justify the enormous value 
set on all of them, by mining authorities, 
and to establish the reputation accorded 
them, of becoming an endless source of 
income to their fortunate owners. 

Being favoured with "a permit" to go 
over the "Torrence," we lighted our 
candles and preceded by Mr. Vernon we 
followed one after the other down the 
shaft, which had been sunk at an incline 
of about 45^^, for 2o0 feet; we then explored 
all the different drifts; the whole mine waj* 



A EEMINISCENCK. 39 

well timbered up and perfectly dry and 
seemed to be easil}' worked. 

By the time we reached the top again 
we were quite ready to do ample justice to 
the lunch provided for us at Mr. Vernon's 
house, after which we made another start 
up the mountains for the purpose of ex- 
amining the "Morning Star" which is tJie 
claim ''par excellence" on the Socorros; we 
had a long walk and some stiff climbing 
before reaching the summit of the spur on 
which the mine is situated; but when we, 
at length, accomplished the ascent we were 
well rejDaid for our exertions, not only by 
that we saw in the mine itself, but by the 
magnificent view we had of the surround- 
ino; countrv. The "Mornino- Star" is the 
only claim in that locality in which a ''fis- 
sure vein" has been discovered, and as we 
looked down the perpendicular shaft we 
saw this crack in the earth's crust tilled 
with rich mineral, about five feet wide and 



40 A REMINISCENCE. 

extending to a depth of 100 feet, as far 
down as the shaft had been sunk. We 
picked up some specimens of the ore and 
after consulting as to the best way of 
working the mine, we sat down on the 
dump to rest, and had time to look round 
before we began to make the descent. 

In a southerly direction from where 
we sat, we saw as far as the eye could reach 
peak after peak of the Socorro Mountains 
rising one above the other, and on our right 
vast table-lands that seemed to be sup- 
])orted on all sides round by cone-shaped 
masses of rock that had been ejected from 
the "combustible and fueled entrails of the 
earth," then, beyond, the snow-capped tops 
of the Magdalenas, shooting their pointing 
spires high up into the air, and across the 
plain to the left our view^ was bounded by 
the inaccessible ridges and steep declivities 
of the Oscura Mountains, at whose base 
the Rio Grande, glistening like a streak 



A REMINISCENCK. 41 

of silver in the bright sun-liglit, flowed 
majestically in graceful curves along the 
valley; and nearer to us on the banks of 
the river we could see the stunted, strag- 
gling town of Socorro, built almost 
entirel}' of adobe houses, one story high 
with flat roofs composed of dirt and mud. 
On our way down we walked round by 
the '"Me too" mine and afterwards de- 
scended the main shaft of the ''Reserve," 
before starting back for the hotel. It was 
nearly dark when we reached the town, 
and after we had had supper we joined 
the general company in the hall and 
engaged in tr.e one topic of conversation, 
namely, inines. r.iiyie^. iiiiiies! Nobody 
thinks or talks of anything else in Socorro; 
and everyone speaks in an undertone or 
whisper when he is giving any information 
to his neighbor, as if he were fearful lest 
any outsider should overhear and take 
advantage of the secret he has to impart, 



42 A REMINISCENCE. 

or forestall him in making known the news 
that has just arrived of a "big strike" 
being made here, or "a boom" springing 
up there, or a "true fissure vein" being 
discovered somewhere else. 

Mr. S^tayner left us that night as he had 
to catch the north bound train so as to be 
in Toronto before the end of the month. 

The next morning we spent in visiting 
the stores and buildings in the town 
though I cannot say we were struck with 
the beauty of their architectural designs. 
It would be difficult to conceive anything 
more unsightly in their exterior than the 
dwell ino; houses which the Mexicans 
inhabit; they are built for the most part 
of adobe bricks which have the aj^pearance 
of undried clay, square or oblong in shape, 
one story high, very few windows and flat 
roofs, the walls are sometimes three and 
four feet thick, but though they are ugly 
to look at, they make very comfortable 



A REMINISCENTK. 43 

places to live in, being warm in winter 
and cool in summer. Many of them are 
luxuriously furnished and as we walked 
aloui}- we could see through the open doors 
evidences of artistic refinement which 
would have done no discredit to the 
aesthetic taste displayed in furnishing 
many of the best houses in Xew York. 

In the afternoon Captain Purdy, Mr. 
Bennett, Andrew and myself again visited 
the mountains to choose a site for a tunnel 
which has to be made to tap the vein in 
the "Morning Star," we crawled on hands 
and knees up through deep ravines and 
gorges till we reached the top, and though 
there were no iron stakes driven into the 
rocks to help us in climbing from one 
ledge to another, the circumstance together 
with the situation and the surroundings 
forcibly reminded me of an ascent I once 
made of the Pic du Midi d 'Osscau in 
the Pyrenees. 



44 A REMINISCENCE. 

We had to hurry back so as to avoid 
being overtaken by the darkness, and to 
make preparations for our journey south 
to Engle by the night train, en route for 
the Black Range. 

Will and Jack had determined to re- 
main in Socorro, so supper that evening- 
was the last meal we all had together, 
and, after drinking their healths coupled 
with many expressions of sorrow at our 
separation and of hope for success in their 
new enterprise, with sad and lingering- 
pressure of the hand we bid them 
"farewell" as they took their departure 
from the hotel. 

Good-bye, Will, good-bye Jack ! Are 
we no more to hear the pleasant raillery 
that used to pass from mouth to mouth 
when we sat down to meals? Are we no 
more to hear your voices ^-gevitly murynur- 
iiig" the chorus of the songs we know so 
well, and bursting into fits of laughter when 



A RKMINISCEXCK. 46 

we essayed a note ''beyond the compass of 
our stride?" Are you no more to see the 
crafty Robert, tired with patriotic zeal, 
indulge his Terpsichorean fancy, clad in 
impromptu kilt of semblance vile? And 
are our voices never again to mingle in 
the matutinal ''aiithen:/'' "There's a Land 
that is Brighter than Day," or that song 
of favourite melody, "Dear England?" 

"We iraisl be going, Jack," said Will, 
"the old boy's waiting." 

"All right, I'm ready, allons, good-bye." 

"Good-bye, old chappies," shouted out 
W'ill, "mind you write soon, and we'll be 
sure to let you know when we 'strike it 
big.'" 

So they went away, one sad and de- 
pressed with forebodings of an uncertain 
future, the other buoyed up with 

"Brilliant hopes, all vvoveu in jjortfeous tissues, 

Flaunting gaily in the golden light : 
Large desires, with most uncertain issues,. 

Tender wishes blossouiing at night!" 



46 A REMIXISCEXCE. 

Ah! Will, is it that we are too grovelling, 
and lack ambitious aims, that we find it 
so difficult to sympathize with you in 
these lofty aspirations of yours? Or is it 
that we have grown too old and from ex- 
perience of some sad events have learnt 
how vain a thing it is to trust the future, 
no matter lioiv pleasant it may appear to 
be? But ivhdlever it is that lifts you up j 

above this world, heaven forbid, that we \ 

should rob you of it; heaven forbid, that ■■ 

we should ''enlighten your darkness by ' 

putting out your sun," but whutever it is, 
keep it, cherish it, and even though it be 
some "mentis gratissimus error," it is 
nevertheless ''a green leaf from that Tree 
of Life that grows for the healing of the 
nations in the Paradise of God/' 



PART III. 



Soon after "the boys" left U3 the rest of 
our party which had now dwindled down 
to four, consisting of Captain Purdv, Mr. 
Bennett, Andrew and myself started for 
Engle, a station sixty miles south of 
Socorro, where we arrived about 4 o'(;lock 
on the morning of the -J4th. When we 
descended from the car into the keen, 
frosty air, we seemed, to have reached the 
very seat of desolation, a few adobe houses 
rose before us out of the dreary plain, 
forlorn and wild, no light to be seen, 
except the glimmering of one livid liame 
in the distance, proclaiming where we 
could obtain shelter and snatch a couple 



48 A reminiscp:nce. 

of hours sleep before the stage left for 
Fairview, 

How wretched it was having to undress 
and go to bed at that time of the morning ! 
If one happens to be awake during the 
"hours of fate" the mind always seems to 
be more susceptible to external influences, 
and every feeling either of misery or 
pleasure seems to be intensified and 
exaggerated! 

The coach was advertised to start at 
7 o'clock, but it was long after that hour 
by the time all the passengers, armed with 
rifles and revolvers and other deadly 
weapons in case of an attack from Indians 
or ''rustlers," were comfortably settled 
and ready for a drive of flfty-five miles. 
Our way lay along an excellent carriag-i 
road, first across the "valley of death," 
where, owing to the scarcity of water, 
many a weary traveller, overcome by 
thirst, has laid himself down to die, then 



A REMINISCENCE. 49 

passing ''Fort McCrae" along the edge of 
deep water courses we crossed the Rio 
Grande, and winding round the foot of 
the Cuchillo Negros, whose toppling crags 
overhung in many places, the road along 
which we drove, we passed through a 
weird, wild-looking country, close to the 
spot where but a few months ago, the 
x\pache Indians massacred so many white 
men, taking them by surprise in a pretty 
little valley, nestling in the shadow of the 
surrounding hills, where they were en- 
camped; then up through deep ravines 
and canons, till linally we reached 
Fairview about o o'clock in the eveninif. 
Fairview is only a very small mining 
town consisting of a saloon, an assay office 
and a grocery store where the miners 
assemble after their work is over and talk 
of the "strikes'' they have made during 
the day, and the prospects they have of 
doins "somethina* biu" soon. We had 



50 A REMINISCENCE. 

supper at the restaurant attached to the 
grocery store, and after listening to stories 
of the fights the first settlers in this remote 
region had with the Indians, and to the 
darini? deeds of drunken cow-boys who 
pay periodical visits to the place and try 
to scare the peaceable inhabitants by tiring 
off their revolvers right and lett as they 
gallop through the town, we were shown 
our sleeping quarters in a small out-house, 
built of ship-lapping, the moon-light 
streaming in through the numerous 
chinks and holes, no ceiling, only the 
rafters above our heads, no window, a tin- 
bowl for a washing basin and an old beer- 
case turned upside down for a dressing, 
table, in the morning we had to throw 
open the door so as to obtain sufficient 
light to dress by, and though the air was 
cold and frosty, the sun shone with such 
brilliancv that we were "lad in a verv 



A REMIXISCEXCE. 51 

short time to seek a cool shelter from his 
burning rays. 

As soon as breakfast was over we 
started oft' on foot, under the guidance of 
Major Day, the manager of the "Dempster 
Mining Company," for the "German'' 
mine, which is rich in silver and copper 
and which we examined very carefully as 
well as manv other claims in the vicinitv. 
We were accompanied on our walk up the 
mountain by one of the miners who enter- 
tained us with pleasant reminiscences of 
many a good day's sport he had had in 
the "Black Ransre" and the surroundinir 
country, and at the top we were joined by 
one of his companions with whom we 
descended the shaft of the "German," and 
afterwards availed ourselves of an invita- 
tion to dine in their camp. When we 
reached this sheltered spot in a hollow 
between two ridges at the top of the 
mountain a fire made of pignon bushes 



o'J A kb:miniscencf. 

was crackling away merrily, sending up 
clouds of dark blue smoke and tilling the 
air far and wide with cedar-like perfume. 
One of the men set to work to make bread 
and biscuits, another cleaned out the 
dishes and cooked the meat, and a third 
ground some coffee. The dav being hot 
and bright we tcok off' our coats and lay 
basking in the sun, while dinner was being 
prepared and in a few minutes we found 
ourselves sitting on old barrels that an- 
swered the purpose of chairs, at an im- 
promptu table, gratifying our rapacious 
appetites with tempting slices of tender 
venison, bread, biscuits and the most 
dilicious California canned fruits, pears, 
apricots,peaches and grapes, and quenching 
our thirst with water brought from a spring 
close by ■■giiurded' by a little Bourbon 
Whiskey. We were right in the heart of 
theCuchillo Negro Mountains, surrounded 
by waves as they seemed, of rounded tops 



A REMIXISC'ENGR. 53 

and rugged peaks, in the crevices of which 
we could see the snow still lying; the 
highest summits in the distance looked 
black and threatening, and the awful 
silence that prevailed in this secluded 
spot, far from the haunt of man, was 
unbroken even by the sound of a distant 
waterfall or the murmur of a valley 
stream to make drowsy music in the air; 
the sun was shining in the clear blue sky 
hish above us, and nearer to the earth 
floated light vapour-like clouds, whose 
filmy shadows we saw sailing dreamily 
along the sides of the mountains till they 
reached the secret valleys far below us. 

"What a grand place this would be," I 
said to Andrew, "to bring a tent and camp 
out for a month, we could have splendid 
sport, for these men say that plenty of 
bears and deer come within shot of them 
every day." 



54 A REMINISCENCE. 

"Yes it would, but you are the very last 
man in the world to do it! I never saw 
anybody take root in a place as you do; 
when you are once settled down, no matter 
where, you are as difficult to move as a 
house." 

''It always soems irksome to make a 
start for any place, but I should like to 
spend a few weeks on these mountains; 
we could bring our hammocks, have our 
meals with the miners and fare ever so 
much better than we do down at Fairview." 

"Yes, but when once we get to Peirce 
City or St. Louis or wherever we take 
up our quarters, you'll not stir out of the 
place again for weeks." 

"Well, of course I don't mean to come 
back directly, but in the Spring we might, 
and in the meantime we can talk it over, 
there's always pleasure to be derived from 
anticipating events which we expect will 
afford us some enioyment." 



A REMINISCENCE. 5o 

"Yes, but I think there is much more 
pleasure in looking back on events that 
have happened and thinking over the 
enjoyment that we have derived from 
them." 

"Perhaps so, but still don't you fancy 
that many of the greatest pleasures in life 
we obtain soleh' from anticipation?" 

"Yes, but many more from reflection; 
because in anticipating events we have to 
trust entirely to our imagination so that 
the pleasures we derive are delusive, 
evanescent and momentary only, but in 
reflection 'fond ineniorv brins-s the lioht 
of other days around us,' and all the 
circumstances whose combination goes to 
make up the sum of our enjoyment, are 
impressed indelibly on our minds, and so 
the pleasures are more intense, more real 
and more lasting. For instance, it would 
give me infinitely more pleasure to think 
and talk over a o-ood run with the fox- 



56 A REMINISCENCE. 

hounds, in which I had held a pretty fair 
place, than it would to listen to the most 
brilliant description you could give of an 
imaginary one, in which you pictured me 
foremost in the first flight, and made me 
one of the lucky few^ up at "the death.'' 

"I don't think the case you cite is a 
very strong argument in support of your 
theory, for it is proverbial that sports- 
men always 'draw on their ir.tagination' 
when thinkinc: over or recountino- their 
many exploits, either to gratify their own 
insatiable appetite for enjoyment or to 
transmit to their listeners the greater 
pleasure which they derive from the 
exercise of their imaginative faculties, 
than is afforded by the unvarnished recital 
of events that have actually taken place." 

"But I only refer to cases in which a 
man thinks over what has really hap- 
pened, in w hich he uses only his memory, 



A REMINISCENCE. 57 

not his imagination. And so, though the 
greatest blessings in life are nearly always 
associated with care and sorrow and the 
cup of enjoyment is generally dregged 
with bitterness, yet 1 think we derive 
many more unalloyed pleasures from 
reflection than we do from the deceptive 
influences of imagination. But there is 
Purdy waving his handerchief, they have 
reached the bottom of the hill, so we had 
better *hurry up.' " 

As I was weighed down with specimens 
of the ore collected from the diflerent 
claims we had visited I found it difficult 
to comply with this request. However 
we walked on slowly picking our way 
amongst the trees and through the long 
grass, till we overtook our companions on 
the level road between the "Black-knife" 
and Fairview. 

We spent the following day here 
passing most of the time on the mountains 



58 A REMINISCENCE. 

amongst the miners wlio all speak with 
the greatest enthusiasm of the bright 
future they feel certain lies before this 
undeveloped country. Nearly every day 
bome rich streak of silver or gold is dis- 
covered in the vicinity and if the 
''prospecting" work done be any criterion 
of the mineral wealth of the territory, it 
cannot be many years before New Mexico 
will be able to boast of the possession of 
mines which will suffer no disparagement 
from comparison with those, the dazzling 
records of whose richness have given 
California, Colorado and Arizona such a 
brilliant reputation. 

Early on Saturday morning, the 27th, 
we left Fairview, and catching the mid- 
night train from Engle we were soon on 
our way back again to Missouri. Sunday 
and Monday were spent on the cars, and 
breaking our journey for one night at 
Halstead, it was Tuesday evening before 



A REMINISC'EXCR. 59 

we were welcomed bcxck in Peirce City. 
Charlie met us and hurried us off as soon 
as possible to a barber to have the fort- 
night's growth of beard taken from our 
chins. 

It was a long time before we could 
reconcile ourselves to the void created in 
our circle by the absence of Jack and 
AVill; associated as we had been for fco 
long, and accustomed always to go about 
together, every place we now visited 
seemed to reflect their image, and the 
well-remembered jokes to which we had 
listened with delight seemed tp have been 
robbed of the charm that gave them half 
their zest. The many enquiries made 
after them by their friends in Peirce City 
serve to keep their memory green amongst 
us, and the ''Bachelors' Club" never meets 
without a kind thought being wafted to 
the boys who are thirteen hundred miles 
a way. 



60 A REMIXISOEXCE. 

"WIkmi romid tlu- howl, of vanished years 

We talk with joyous seeminsi' — 
With smiles that iuii>:ht as well be tears, 

So faint, so sad their beaniinfi: 
While memory l)riniis us l>ack auiain 

Eaeh early tie that twined us. 
(.)li, sweet's the eiip that cireles then 

To those we've left behind us!" 

Ill ''Charles O'Malley" ''tlie Adjutant;' 
when telling his storv, is made to com- 
plain bitterly of the cruelty of the fates 
that had doomed his regiment to such 
dreary quarters as Londonderry, and 
after showing how all the efforts of the 
officers to make the time pass pleasantly 
by giving balls and getting up pic-nics 
and theatricals met with no success, he 
goes on to say, "some months wore on in 
this fashion, and at length — what will not 
time do? We began, by degrees, to forget 
our woes. Some of us took to late hours 
and brandy and water; others got senti- 
mental, and wrote journals and novels 
and poetry; some made acquaintances 
among the townspeople, and cut into a 
quiet rubber to pass the evening; while 



A REMINISCENCE. 61 

another detacbineiit got up a little love 
affair to while away the tedious hours and 
cheat the lazy sun." 

While writing this brief reminiscence, 
I have often wondered in which category 
my charitable associates will be good 
enough to classify me. I know I should 
meet with their sympathy if I told them 
that the general gloominess and lack of 
amusement in a small western town had 
driven me, at length, to late hours and 
brandy and water as a '^dernier ressorl^" 
and though the honour of being able to 
claim the acquaintance of the townspeople 
is not sufficient inducement to overcome 
the disinclination I always have to take a 
hand at "whist," and indulgence in 
"les afci'ires d 'ai::o:tr'' among so many 
fair subjects as Peirce City possesses, 
might involve more loss of time than I 
am willing to incur, yet I am sure they 
will forgive me if a feeling of sorrow 



62 A REMINISCENCE. 

and regret at our early separation has 
betrayed me into showing a spirit too pal- 
pably sentimental, if it has been the 
means of putting on record one or two 
incidents that will remind them of some 
pleasant days we spent together in 
America. 



THE END. 



I 



I 

i 



^ABY OF CON^"ESS 




